The Ingredient That Never Lets You Down

Chicken gets written off as boring and I refuse to accept it. Yes, it’s an everyday ingredient. Yes, most people have it on rotation. But that’s exactly what makes a truly great chicken recipe so satisfying to find. The right marinade, the right technique, the right sauce, and suddenly the most familiar thing in your fridge becomes the best thing on the table. Chicken rewards good cooking more than almost any other protein, which means it also suffers more than most when it isn’t treated properly. The difference between a well-cooked chicken dish and a bad one is enormous.

Nearly thirty years of cooking chicken has taught me a few things worth knowing. Thighs over breasts almost every time. Don’t skip the browning step. Let it rest. Build flavour in the pan before anything else goes near it. These are the chicken recipes that reflect everything I’ve learned, from a sticky oven-baked situation that practically cooks itself to a slow-braised Persian yoghurt chicken that tastes like significantly more effort than it was. Everyday ingredient, extraordinary results, every single time.